Windsor memories 75 years of magic from the famous horse show
As the show celebrates its landmark birthday, Horse & Hound rewinds the clock to remember some of the milestones, calamities and triumphs of this treasured British institution
In the beginningÉ
1 A horse and dog show was held at Windsor in 1943 during “Wings for Victory week” to help the war effort. It was the idea of Geoffrey Cross, who had been invalided out of the army, and Count Robert Orssich, a showing producer living near Windsor.
2 It took place on Wednesday, 26 May and helped raise £391,197 — enough money to buy 78 Typhoon fighter aircraft. 3 There were a few early blunders. “We even had the grandstand, such as it was, with its back to the castle,” said Geoffrey. “And the dog show, it was such a shambles that I determined never to have another dog on the showground.” 4 But by November 1943, after that first show, the Royal Windsor Horse Show Club had been founded, with King George VI as patron — and the date was set for the first Royal Windsor Horse Show on 27 May 1944. 5 In the line-up were gymkhana classes, showing, jumping and driving — with a top prize of £15 for the jumping. This year, the winner of the Rolex grand prix will take home €75,000 (around £65,640). 6 When The King and Queen made an appearance in Home Park in 1944, it was the first time the public had seen His Majesty not in his uniform since the outbreak of war. 7 There was early success for a young Princess Elizabeth who, with her sister, was making her debut competing in public at the show in 1944. She drove the Norwegian pony Hans to take the single private driving class title, with Princess Margaret as a passenger. 8 Despite the wartime travel difficulties, more than 8,000 spectators turned out to watch in 1944. Today, the show expects crowds of 55,000 over the five days. 9 That year was particularly memorable for two Red Cross nurses, according to Alan Smith in his 1977 book The Royal Windsor Horse Show. Having managed to hitch a lift with the Duke of Beaufort, they were struggling to find a bed in town for the night. On the Duke mentioning their enthusiasm for the show — and accommodation dilemma — to The King and Queen, beds were swiftly found for them in the castle.
Milestone moments
10 By 1946, the show had been extended to two days, then three days in 1947 and the full five days by 1977. 11 While showjumpers now take their fair share of the limelight, in 1946 there was just one paragraph dedicated to those classes in the H&H report — the emphasis was that this was a horse rather than a jumping show. 12 The coaching marathon made its debut in 1947 — and as competitors set off on the six-mile drive through Windsor, it acted as the perfect advert for the show. 13 In those early years, soldiers dominated the jumping. In the 1947 international trial jumping competition, military riders took the top five spots. 14 That particular event was not without incident, with one horse getting out of control and jumping into the crowds, injuring several spectators. 15 With a flash of scarlet tunics and glistening helmets, 1948 saw the inaugural Household Cavalry musical ride at the show. The ride is still a highlight of the schedule today. 16 There was a breakthrough for the show’s exposure in 1948, when BBC commentator John Snagge made his contribution to the sports review from the show. 17 By 1949, this was no longer a local show and the facilities began to reflect that, with a covered stand for the spectators and growing crowds to match. 18 To mark the Festival of Britain in 1951 (nationwide exhibitions to promote the feeling of recovery post-war), the show held a floodlit session on the Friday evening, with 20,000 people standing or sitting to catch a glimpse of the programme.
19 Hounds made their first appearance at the show in the same year, with the Crawley and Horsham foxhounds and
the Hertfordshire Hounds taking their turns in the ring. 20 When The King died in February 1952, the show was postponed from its usual May slot to July. 21 The Queen took over from her father to become patron of the royal Windsor Horse show Club and, on the friday evening of the 1952 show, she drove around the floodlit arena in a black evening gown with a glittering tiara. 22 In 1953, the Household Cavalry’s musical ride was dropped due to their workload ahead of The Queen’s Coronation on 2 June. 23 The show was televised for the first time in 1954, following live radio broadcasts for the two previous years. “The royal Windsor Horse show has provided the best television of the last two days,” said one review. 24 In 1955, the show was part of the eightday Festival of the Horse in Windsor, which included two days of international dressage, followed by the European Eventing Championships. 25 dressage in the early 60s lured french and german riders to Windsor — among the winners in 1962 was the great reiner klimke. 26 Windsor was among the venues that ran Olympic trials in 1964, and a fall here put Douglas Bunn out of contention for a place on the British team. Peter Robeson, who won Windsor’s trial, went on to take individual bronze in Tokyo with Firecrest. 27 Before becoming a broadcaster and writer, Jonathan dimbleby was a showjumper and competed at royal Windsor during the 1960s. 28 In 1978, one Thursday evening was dedicated to a celebration marking the Pony Club’s 50th anniversary with a celebrity jumping class featuring former members Richard Meade, Lucinda Prior-Palmer (now Green), Douglas Bunn and Nicky Henderson. 29 racehorse trainer and former showjumper sue smith’s first winner was bought by her husband Harvey
during the 1990 show. While competing at Royal Windsor, Harvey paid a trip to Ascot sales, where he paid 4,300gns for future Ascot winner African Safari. 30 A thousand horses who travelled from as far away as the US took part in a night-time theatrical extravaganza,
“All The Queen’s Horses”, to celebrate
The Queen’s Golden Jubilee in 2002, set against the magnificent backdrop of
Windsor Castle. 31 The day in 2007 that Windsor won the bid to host the 2009 European Championships was a momentous one for the venue, and the sport — the event would be the first senior combined continental championships to be held at the same venue. 32 A £500,000 all-weather arena in 2009 was hoped to make Windsor “as weather-proof as it can be”, said event director Simon Brooks-Ward. 33 But images of The Queen braving the rain in gumboots and her signature headscarf go hand-inhand with this show and, in 2012, heavy rain forced 12 classes to be cancelled. However, while both Chatsworth and Badminton were cancelled that year, Windsor not only ran, but performed the
Diamond Jubilee Pageant. 34 The public scrambled to get tickets for the pageant, which featured 558 horses and 2,141 participants from 18 nations. 35 The first Royal Windsor endurance ride took place in May 2013 at the same time as the show, running through Windsor Great Park. 36 In 2014, international dressage returned to Windsor for the first time since the 2009 European Championships, with an invitational CDI3* grand prix and grand prix freestyle drawing top riders back. 37 The inaugural Windsor Wednesday began in 2014, offering free entry for local residents. 38 The 90-minute spectacle to celebrate The Queen’s 90th birthday in 2016, broadcast on ITV, was awarded a BAFTA. 39 Cementing the status of the show as a venue for top-level sport, showjumping and dressage at Royal Windsor were upgraded to CSI5* and CDI4* levels respectively in 2017. 40 Nick Skelton chose Royal Windsor for his official retirement in 2017. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house when the 2016 Olympic champion and his wonderful stallion Big Star waved farewell to the sport in a special ceremony at the end of the final day.